Thicker Than Blood
by KaiYaSna24
Summary: Lucien Mathias Colchester is entering into a whole new experience as he begins his schooling at Hogwarts. As he struggles to fit in with his peers, keeping up with his schoolwork, and fighting off demons from a horrific past, Luke meets a few people who become very much like the family he had always wanted.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I own only the plot and the OCs. Everything else is J.K. Rowling's creation. **

* * *

**Prologue**

_Mr. L. Colchester_

_The Attic at the Top of the House_

_509 Middleton Road_

_Chadderton_

_Oldham_

Thaddeus Colchester turned the all-too-familiar envelope over to see the official Hogwarts seal on the back. He half expected McGonagall wouldn't even bother sending his useless son an acceptance letter. It was a waste of parchment, ink, and time, because he'd be damned if he'd allow the bastard, blood-traitor to pollute the Colchester name by flaunting his peculiarities within the hallowed halls of Hogwarts.

He stood and walked over to the flaming hearth. He just barely let go of the letter to toss it into the fire when a small hand shot out with lightning swiftness to snatch it out of the air.

"That is not your decision, father."

Thaddeus turned to sneer at the very object of his contempt. Lucien held his Hogwarts letter to his chest as he backed away from his father, a fierce scowl written across his young features. Thaddeus could admit that the boy was classic Colchester, with his thick jet-black hair and slate blue-gray eyes that were typical for all males of their family tree, but the boy had been sullied by sharing his mother's womb with his squib twin brother. Now, Thaddeus wished that he had had the foresight to kill Lucien when he had dealt with Stephen. Now his heir-apparent was corrupted; a muggle-lover of the worst kind, and an even greater humiliation than his late brother had ever been.

Thaddeus stepped toward Lucien threateningly, "Give that letter to me, now." He snarled in a low, rumbling tone.

Lucien took another step away flashed his father an obscene hand gesture, and took off up the stares toward his bedroom. He locked his door and leaned back against the wood as his father attempted to turn it into mulch with his bare hands. He couldn't magically unlock the door since there was an anti-intruder jinx put on it the last time Lucien's maternal uncle visited to give him some sort of sanctuary from his abusive, overbearing father.

Suddenly, everything went quiet. And then Thaddeus started chuckling darkly from the other side of Lucien's door, "It doesn't matter if you keep that letter or not, because in the end the decision does rest with me. I'll never pay for your precious school supplies."

Lucien waited a few more minutes after he heard Thaddeus' footsteps fade down the hall before he leaned his head back against the door and sighed heavily before smiling mischievously, "We'll see about that, old man."

Lucien moved toward an old steamer trunk in the far back corner of the darkened room. He unlocked the muggle padlock and flipped the latches and opened the lid. Various items were inside, most of which were muggle in origin. He carefully rummaged through the contents until he pulled out a small, tattered pouch that had been sewed back together several times already. Lucien closed the lid of the trunk and dumped out the contents of the pouch onto the top of the lid. Several coins spilled out, and Lucien smiled excitedly. He began counting his money, and found he already had forty-two galleons, eighty-one sickles, and twelve knuts. The sickles could be exchanged for four more galleons, and Lucien supposed that what he had would be able to stretch just enough so that he could purchase all of his school supplies on his own.

He put all of his coins back into his pouch and went over to a large area rug in the center of the room. He lit the wick of an oil lamp to give him some light, grabbed two feet of parchment, a quill and ink, and sat cross-legged on the rug.

He opened the seal on his letter and began to read. He tucked the Hogwarts ticket to Platform 9 ¾ into his coin pouch for safe keeping, scanned the letter confirming his acceptance to the school, and started looking over the list of supplies he needed. He felt a little anxious, seeing what all he needed, and he knew that robes were expensive on their own.

Instead of dwelling, Lucien wrote back his confirmation to Professor McGonagall.

"Tobey." He called out, and a small, hunchbacked house elf apparated into his room, "Yes, young master."

Lucien rolled his eyes at the honorific, knowing it was hopeless to try and break them of calling him that, "Yes Tobey, could you take this to the owlery and send it off immediately to Professor McGonagall at Hogwarts. And be certain that nobody sees you." He explained, sealing the return envelope and handing it to the small elf, "And be sure that you're careful. I wouldn't want my father to see you helping me."

"Tobey will see to it, young master," and with a small bow, he disapparated away.

_Now that that's settled…_

Lucien decided that at first light tomorrow morning, he would steal some floo powder and go to Diagon Alley to buy his supplies. Although it was a little early, Lucien knew that it he got the most important things now, he still had plenty of time to find enough money for the rest of his supplies in time before he went to catch his train.

Tobey returned a little while later to report that he had sent off the letter, and to say that Lucien would not be allowed down to supper that evening, or any other meal for the next week, as his punishment for defying his father and clearly disrespecting Thaddeus' hold on the family.

Lucien took this all in stride. It wasn't the first time Thaddeus withheld food from him to prove his point.

"That's fine, Tobey. Thank you, you may go back to your regular duties now."

Tobey hesitated a moment, feeling a little sad for his kind young master, but finally obeyed the suggestion that was no less a command.

* * *

Lucien tucked his money pouch inside his ragged cloak, making doubly certain that it was firmly secure and that he wouldn't lose it before he left his bedroom and went down to the family sitting room, where the main hearth was situated. He grabbed a little bit of the floo powder, just enough to make the journey but not so much that it'd be missed, spoke out clearly yet quietly, "Diagon Alley!" and dropped the powder.

Immediately he was in the bustling streets of the most popular Wizarding shopping district in England. Although it was still a little early, the alley was teeming with life.

First on Lucien's list was to get his wand. He made his way through the crowds, easily threading his way through as he strode toward Olivander's.

The happy tingling of the bell above the door announced his entrance, but Lucien didn't see anyone respond.

"Hello?" He called out.

A elderly man, with a shock of white hair atop his head and kind brown eyes that traveled up the length of Lucien's rather short stature – short even for an eleven-year-old boy – and he smiled at him, "Welcome to my shop, young man. Are you here to purchase your very first wand?" He asked, although it was clearly routine.

"Yes sir." Lucien replied anyway.

"Well then, let's get started." The old man started scanning the multitude of short, long navy boxes before pulling one out and extracting the wand. "10 ¾ inches, oak, unicorn hair, relatively supple."

Lucien simply touched the tip of his forefinger to the hilt of the wand before shaking his head, "That's not the right one." He muttered.

Unperturbed, Olivander started searching again, "How about this one? 9 ½ inches, phoenix feather, elm, rigid."

Lucien gripped the hilt and moved his elbow a bit, before he held it out to Olivander once more, shaking his head.

"Hmm…let's see then." Olivander murmured as he continued searching. Soon he came back with another wand. "Let's see if this one is better. 12 ½ inches, cypress, dragon heartstring, reasonably supple."

When Lucien took hold of the hilt, a wave of heat swam up his arm and warmed his chest. He smiled, and nodded slowly, his face alight with awe, "This is it." He breathed.

Olivander smiled brightly, "I'm glad you found your perfect match." Olivander so loved to see the expressions on the young ones' faces when they find their wands for the first time.

"How much then?" Lucien asked.

"Seventeen galleons."

Lucien gently set the wand down on Olivander's desk as he pulled out his pouch and counted out the correct amount, holding it out to the older man, "Thank you." He said.

"No, thank you. Now have a good day."

Lucien nodded, grabbed his wand, and left the shop. He couldn't get enough of that feeling of just how the wand synchronized with him. He could still feel his magic bonding with his wand, and it was an incredible sensation.

He wondered which shop to go to next. He settled on getting his cauldron, since it would help him carry his books when he eventually got around to getting those. The pewter number two cauldron cost fifteen galleons, and although it was hefty, it was necessary. He immediately went to Flourish and Blotts and got his schoolbooks taken care of. With his books taken care of, Lucien was down to his final galleon, and he still needed his brass scales and glass vials. The uniform would be a problem, but maybe he could find one lying around the house.

With the majority of his things paid for, Lucien now was faced with another problem. How was he to get inside his home without getting caught? Lucien pondered this before shaking his head and used his last galleon to purchase floo powder to get home. He refused to be intimidated by his father. Yes, he might scold him, and most likely the bastard would punish him for his actions this morning, but he had gotten what he needed, and he was just that much closer to leaving for Hogwarts.

The moment he set foot into his house, Thaddeus stood like a dementor in the sitting room, his arms crossed over his chest and his legs braced apart. Lucien hugged his cauldron to him, which housed his schoolbooks and pouch of leftover sickles, knuts, and train ticket.

Thaddeus looked incredibly furious. It was nearly enough to make Lucien feel the slight stirrings of fear, but he stamped it down and glared back at his father, "You can't say anymore that I can't go to Hogwarts, father. These were all bought with my own money." He started boldly.

"And you most assuredly stole it all from me or your brother. Just as you stole the floo powder."

"For your information, floo powder is hardly a thing to be missed. I only used a pinch. And I didn't steal the money from anyone! If you must know, I converted the muggle money Uncle Mathias gave me for my birthday and had it converted into Wizarding money. So you can stuff your half-bit accusation right up your ass. I will be going to Hogwarts, and there's not a damn thing you can do to stop me!"

The back of Thaddeus' hand struck Lucien's cheek with a resounding crack. "You dare to talk in such a way to me? You filthy blood-traitor! I could kill you!" He shouted as he rained his fists down on Lucien's back, shoulders, and head. They were left unguarded as Lucien curled himself around his cauldron. He carefully removed his wand from his cloak and held it to his chest as well, to make certain that Thaddeus wouldn't snap it as he delivered Lucien's punishment.

"_Crucio!_" Thaddeus roared with all of his rage, and Lucien screamed in agony, but continued to guard his precious cargo from Thaddeus' added kicks in addition to the cruciatus curse.

It seemed like an eternity before suddenly a voice rang out in the room.

"Father, please stop!" The cry from Lucien's younger brother, Theo, was disregarded. Thaddeus was beyond outraged by his oldest son's insubordination. "You'll kill him."

"I don't care." Thaddeus spat as his foot struck the side of Lucien's unprotected head, and blood burst from the boy's temple.

"You wouldn't want to be sent to Azkaban over such a useless life, now would you?" Theo attempted to reason.

Thaddeus did pause for a moment, considering, then he gave one final kick to Lucien's head and then he stepped back from the boy crumbled into a heap on the floor.

"Get out of my sight!" Thaddeus roared.

Lucien glared at his father the entire time as the boy got to his feet and left the room.

Lucien barely made it to his room before he crumbled to the floor, feeling dizzy and a little nauseous. He kicked the door to his room closed and he put the cauldron and his wand on the floor away from him, checking them for damage, and found that he was the sole receiver of his father's rage. That was fine, Lucien would live. He had been dealt worse before.

He rolled onto his back, gingerly probing the cut in his temple to gauge how deep it was. He supposed that he had a concussion, and he breathed an exasperated sigh.

The loud crack of apparation sounded in the small space of his bedroom, and Tobey was there, holding a box of medicinal materials.

"Young master, Tobey will make you feel better." The little elf squeaked in alarm at Lucien's condition.

Lucien did say anything; he simply allowed the elf to perform his aid without any interference.

"Would young master like a bit of water?" Tobey asked.

"That would be fine, and then that'll be all I require from you. You needn't be punished for helping me." Lucien stated.

"Yes, young master." And Tobey conjured a glass and water, handing it to the boy. "Tobey hopes that you feel better soon."

With that, Tobey disapparated out of his room.

September first couldn't come fast enough. All Lucien wanted was to gain some reprieve from his father's tyranny. Even though he knew that he would still be required to come home over the holidays and summer, any amount of peace would be more than welcome.

"Soon, I'll be out of this hellhole."


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and OCs only. Everything else is a product of J.K. Rowling's imagination. I'm just borrowing them for my own self-enjoyment. ^_^**

* * *

**Chapter One**

Once again, Lucien sneaked out of the house at the crack of dawn. It was finally September first, and he awoke two hours before dawn and packed away his school supplies into his old steamer trunk. He searched the numerous boxes and every room in the house until he finally found one of Thaddeus' old school uniforms. It was probably used during his father's third or fourth year, but Lucien would simply have to make do with what he had. He packed the uniform, as well as some of his personal clothes.

"Young master?" Lucien turned as he heard Tobey and another house elf, Trixie, apparate into his room while he was almost finished packing.

"Yes, what is it?" He asked, wondering about their sudden appearance since he hadn't called for them.

"Well, young master, Tobey wanted to give you this." Tobey pulled his hand out from behind his back. In the elf's tiny palm were ten galleons.

"Where did you get those, Tobey?" Lucien demanded.

His eyes widened as he took in the true meaning of what these two elves were doing. They could get themselves killed if Thaddeus ever found out about this.

"Trixie was cleaning the house, and Trixie found a coin here and a coin there." Trixie replied, sounding shy but proud.

"Tobey saw that young master's cauldron was missing crucial supplies, and Tobey heard that Trixie found the coins. So, Tobey thought that young master might be able to use them. For school." Tobey explained.

Lucien's heart clenched at the rare show of caring. House elves rarely ever act without being ordered, and this was their way of showing that they support their young master. They thought that Lucien was a kind young wizard, and that he never treated the house elves with anything but respect, which was odd to them, but appreciated. This was their way to repay their young master for his kindness.

"Thank you, Tobey, Trixie." Lucien took the galleons and tucked them into his jeans pocket. He then dropped to his knees and grabbed the two elves in a hug. The elves went rigid at first, but soon relaxed and Trixie even returned the embrace. How they adored their young master.

"Promise, young master, that young master will take care of himself while young master is gone." Trixie said once Lucien released them.

"I certainly will. And you two be extremely careful while I'm gone. I don't want either of you hurt because you helped me like this."

The elves nodded, "Trixie and Tobey shall leave young master to his packing," and then they disapparated out of the room.

Lucien put some floo powder into a satchel before he left out the front door. Since the morning Lucien came back from shopping for his school supplies, Thaddeus had disconnected the floo system so that Lucien wouldn't sneak out that way again. He never counted on Lucien having a backup plan.

Lucien walked, with his steamer trunk in tow, almost three miles before he reached a modest house that had a single lighted window in the front. Lucien threw a rock at the lighted window, and it opened to reveal a young girl about the same age as Lucien. She was tall for a girl of her age, with trailing black hair and extremely pale skin. She was dressed in a black robe that swallowed her in its masses.

"Faytn, I need to use your floo." He called.

"What the bloody hell did you do this time?" Faytn answered with attitude. "Have you any idea how scared I got when you threw that rock?" In retaliation, the girl hurled something down at Lucien's head. He reached down and eyed the object with a mixture of curiosity and disbelief.

"A bunny slipper?" He asked incredulously.

"Don't judge me! Now come inside and make it quick." Faytn instructed in a huff before she disappeared back inside the house.

Lucien went to the front door and reached for the doorknob and tested the knob. It opened easily and Lucien stepped through. The floo was directly to his left, and was fully functional.

"See you at King's Cross, Faytn." He called, pulled out his satchel of floo powder, and called out, "Leaky Cauldron!" before dumping some of the powder onto the floor of the fireplace.

He grabbed his steamer trunk and stepped into the green fire, coming out on the other side to find himself in an empty room that looked like a broom closet. "Clever." He muttered before he stepped out of the room and into the dining room of the Leaky Cauldron.

Tom saw him and nodded with a smile, "Hogwarts student, eh?"

Lucien nodded, and then headed for the back door to the bricked-in alley that led to the entrance to Diagon Alley. It was only a little after nine o'clock, so he felt he had ample time to purchase his brass scales and glass vials before heading toward King's Cross station.

It only took a few minutes to buy the remaining school supplies. He still had four galleons left, and he supposed there couldn't be any harm in getting a small breakfast to pass some time. Since he still had a little leftover floo powder left, he would simply floo to King's Cross at 10:15 with enough time to find the train.

He didn't eat too much, only some eggs and toast and a mug of coffee, but it was more than he had in the last few weeks alone. His stomach was satisfied for the moment, and he barely even paid one whole galleon on his breakfast so he still had plenty to save for later.

* * *

"Shite…" Lucien muttered.

He had been standing on the King's Cross platform for about ten minutes, his eyes scanning his surroundings for any hint of how to get to Platform 9 ¾. Obviously there was some sort of trick to it, but so far he couldn't think of anything. He resolved to simply wait and see if a magic-user came along and could show him how it's done. He still had quite a bit of time before the train leaves, but he was getting anxious because he hadn't seen any magic-users come along, and he wondered if he had missed them all and he'd be right back to square one; trying to locate the platform on his own, and likely missing his train entirely. Lucien didn't have the best of luck, it would seem.

Thankfully, only about five minutes after his tangent of worry, he spotted a gaggle of redheads heading in his direction. His ears perked up at hearing one of them say the word "muggles" and his eyes locked onto them like a hawk.

He watched in amazement as one by one, each of the redhead children ran through the brick pillar of the platform between 9 and 10 and then being followed by their parents.

"So that's how it's done?" He murmured before he picked up his steamer trunk and started toward the pillar. Calmly, he stepped through. He felt a short, thin gust of air pass over his skin and suddenly he was assaulted by the ruckus of sound coming from the people assembled onto the Platform. His heart skipped a beat as he looked up and saw the sign that declared that he was indeed on the correct platform. Gripping his trunk handle, he rummaged through his cloak and pulled out his money pouch. He dumped the coins Tobey and Trixie had given him inside and exchanged them for his ticket.

He threaded his way through the crowd. He showed his ticket to the conductor and finally stepped onto the train.

He found an empty compartment and placed his trunk on the overhead shelf. He settled himself comfortably against the window, pulled down the window screen, and closed his eyes to take a short nap. He had been so excited and anxious to be leaving that he didn't get much sleep the previous night.

* * *

It felt like he had barely closed his eyes when the door to his compartment opened, and he heard two raucous voices come inside. Faytn was sitting opposite him already, although she was reading a book and wasn't the cause of the disturbance. No, the cause were the two redheaded twin brothers who had just come in, and good Merlin were they loud. How could two people converse to each other in such high volumes?

"Ah well, I guess there's no helping that." He murmured before sitting up and pulled on the window screen and it rolled up to reveal that they had just left the city, although there were still several suburban houses dotting the landscape.

Faytn gave Lucien a sympathetic smile, but Lucien shrugged and then turned to the twin boys with a wide smile, "Hey, I'm Luke." He introduced himself, giving them a sarcastic two-fingered salute.

The twins were called Fred and George. George was the older of the two, and he had a mischievous glint in his brown eyes that made Lucien both nervous and excited. His brother, Fred, was just like his brother, only he was more subdued in his own mischievous nature, but it would seem only by a small margin.

"Do you have any other family?" George asked.

"Not many who deserve recognition. This one here is the closest one I have to family." Lucien stated, using his thumb to point to Faytn, "I did have a twin brother of my own, but fate wasn't too kind to him…" _Or perhaps it was merciful to Stephen and was vindictive to me? _"He died when we were five." He explained, noticing the odd expressions on Fred and George's faces when he had said he _had _had a twin brother.

"Ah, that's rough." Fred replied, not quite able to understand the feeling of losing a twin.

"Honestly, I'm wondering if he got off a bit easier. You see, Stephen had been born a squib, and well…in my family blood purity is everything."

"Ah, I know how that goes. What are you, a Malfoy?" George asked.

"Nuh-uh. Colchester, just as bad though." He ignored the look Faytn shot his way.

After a few minutes of somewhat awkward silence, Lucien had an idea, "Hey, you guys want to see my collection?"

"Collection of what?" The twins asked in unison.

Lucien grinned before he stood and pulled his trunk down off of the overhang. He set it on the floor, positioning it so that the twins couldn't see inside. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keychain and unlocked the padlock and flipped open the latches.

"I remember hearing that the Weasley patriarch is a muggle enthusiast." He added before pulling out something that fit perfectly into the palm of his hand. His kept his hand curled up and held it out toward Fred, who was sitting beside Faytn. George's curiosity was piqued, and he leaned forward to see what the boy had.

Lucien finally flipped open his hand and showed them a small, silver dome object. The boys' eyes widened in fascination and leaned in even closer, "What is it?" George asked.

"This is what muggles call a bell. They put it on this contraption called a bicycle, and then when they want it to make noise, they just push this here." And he put his forefinger against a small silver tab on the side and pulled it forward. A trailing, high-pitched ring sounded in the compartment, and the twins were in awe.

"Whoa! Do it again." Fred demanded.

"Why don't you try? I have more that I want to show you." Lucien offered as he placed the bell into Fred's hand. It took Fred a moment to figure out how the bell works, but when he got the hang of it, he kept ringing it over and over again, each time his smile grew a little more.

Lucien then pulled out a small, velvet covered box. He opened the lid, and two large, decorative balls lay inside. He picked one up and shook it, and a deeper, musical sound came out. "This is also called a bell, but it's a different sort. See, the one that you have is meant to be loud and shrill to attract attention. If a muggle is riding their bicycles, and something is coming at them, say a person or a car, they ring the bell to alert the people around them of their presence. These bells are more mellow, meant to soothe instead of alert." Lucien picked up the second round bell and when he shook his hand this time, it sounded a little louder, and it made both boys feel a little warm in their chests.

"What else do you have?" George wondered as Lucien handed the round bells to him, cautioning him to be careful with them since they were more fragile than the bicycle bell.

Lucien began rifling through his trunk and then his eyes lit up and he pulled out a small, yellow box.

"These are the greatest things I have ever found. Faytn, you haven't seen these yet, so you should pay attention too." He instructed.

When he had the undivided attention of the three other people in the compartment, he opened the lid on the box and dipped his thumb and index finger into the small bag inside. He pulled out something small and white, and looked like a miniature onion.

He closed the lid on his trunk, and then he threw the tiny object down onto the flat surface of the lid. It made a resounding pop that at first startled the others, but when they saw it was simply loud, they all demanded for him to repeat his actions. He did, and the affect made the boys laugh hysterically as they fawned over the muggle noisemaker.

"These are called poppers, aptly named because of the sound they make. It is simply made of rice paper, flower, and a tinge of what the muggles call gunpowder, which is how the sound is made. I saw these a few months ago, and I had to see what they did. They were so small, and yet they were so loud. I had a blast annoying my father with them. I'd follow him around and when he least suspect, I'd throw one at his feet and watch him all but jump out of his skin." He laughed with the twins, and the redheads saw a potential troublemaker on their hands.

"Luke…" Faytn interjected, sounding a little worried.

"Ah, no worries, he didn't do anything. He never knew it was me. I would hide just out of sight when I used them, so he could only guess, and when he confronted me about it, I simply told him that he was crazy and imagining things." Luke explained, although the explanation didn't seem to make Faytn feel any better.

Fred and George, on the other hand, were anxious to see what else Lucien had in his trunk of treasures. Lucien was thrilled to finally have an audience that appreciated his hobby. Faytn did whenever Lucien showed her his new toy or a treasure he found, but he rarely got to see Faytn. And, obviously, his family couldn't care less about muggle things. They'd sooner burn them before Lucien had a chance to explain what they do.

He pulled out several more things. First was a tin triangle, which when Lucien struck it with a small metal pin, it made a high-pitched _ting_ sound. "Can you believe that this is actually a muggle musical instrument? It's not used overly so, but it is used in what muggles dub percussion. The triangle, that's what this is called, was monotone and only did so much when used, so it was converted into a cymbal, like this." Lucien pulled out a round, brass, thin plate and he tapped his forefinger nail against the metal and it made a small, muted sound.

"Usually muggles put these on stands, since human flesh muffles the sound too much." He pulled a string out of his pocket and threaded it through a hole at the top of the cymbal. He then tapped it again with his fingernail and it made a larger, fuller sound. "See. They make them in various sizes because depending on how large or small the cymbal is, the higher or lower the sound is."

The food trolley came along not too long after that, and although Lucien was getting hungry, he thought that it'd be best to save his money for something more important. Besides, there'd be food to eat once they arrive at Hogwarts, so Lucien could do with withholding on the candy.

Lucien didn't know where the time went, but suddenly it was getting dark outside, and there were students roaming the aisle in their school robes. A voice enhanced with a sonorous charm floated through each compartment, "We will be arriving in Hogsmeade in fifteen minutes."

Lucien collected his treasures and put them back inside his trunk and pulled out his school uniform. He went to change, and was slightly embarrassed at how much fabric hung off of him. It obviously wasn't fitted to his body, but at least it wasn't swallowing the boy whole.

He came back to the compartment in time to catch the twins and Faytn just returning from the bathroom as well. He supposed that he wasn't too bad off with his uniform. Certainly other students had custom fitted robes, but people like Faytn and the twins settled for hand-me-downs like him. It felt even better that none of his friends made him feel bad about his wardrobe malfunction.

* * *

The Sorting ceremony…Lucien both looked forward to and dreaded the process. He had two possible outcomes. Lucien could be Sorted into Slytherin, as every single Colchester in the history of Hogwarts had been, and earn slight respect from his father in the process, showing he wasn't a complete failure. But then, if he is Sorted into Slytherin, and he knew that the Weasleys have been placed in Gryffindor. He hoped that the friendship forged between the three boys on the train ride to Hogwarts was just enough to show that if he was Sorted into Slytherin, he wasn't the typical Slytherin and that they'd continue to be friends despite House allegiances.

But then, he might be Sorted into Gryffindor, and Merlin that would be both a relief and a curse to Lucien. A relief because in his heart, Lucien did believe he was more a Gryffindor than a Slytherin, but he'd be in huge trouble with his parents once he set foot in their house again. They'd beat him to the verge of death, no doubt, even though Thaddeus and Francesca already had voiced their opinions that they couldn't see Lucien as a proper Slytherin.

Lucien had never felt so complimented in his life in that regard.

Suddenly, Professor McGonagall called out his name, "Lucien Colchester."

He strode up onto the dais, and carefully propped himself on the three-legged chair. McGonagall put the Sorting hat on his head, and Lucien felt the sweat bead on his forehead.

"Hmm…this is surprisingly difficult. You are the best of every House. You have the loyalty of a Hufflepuff, the cunning of a Slytherin, the shrewd intelligence of a Ravenclaw, and the fierce bravery of a Gryffindor…but it seems one House does stand out a little more than any other so, Slytherin!"

Lucien's heart clenched and his throat closed tight as McGonagall removed the Sorting hat and he went over to the cheering table of Slytherins to sit down by previously Sorted Faytn.

"Oh Merlin…" He breathed as he glanced over to the Weasley twins. Neither appeared too indifferent to him, even though he was Slytherin, and as it turned out, they were Gryffindor.

"It'll be all right, Luke. They're not the types to care." Faytn reassured.

Lucien gave the girl one of the most hopeless expressions she'd ever seen on the boy's face. She put her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tight before saying, "It would seem that this will have to be dealt with over time."

"Yeah." He whispered back in a trembling voice, and Faytn's heart clenched in her chest.

Professor Snape, the Slytherin Head of House, led his new charges down to the dungeons to their common room. He instructed them on the House rules, and the general rules of Hogwarts, but Lucien was only half listening. True, he hated to be wallowing in his self-pity, but he had never felt so helpless in his life. He had hoped to stay friends with the Weasley twins.

He suddenly felt a jolt to his chest, and he pressed his hand over his heart, an expression of hope and desperation on his face.

_You want them as your friends, Lucien Mathias Colchester, than you had better show them that. Don't give a damn about House affiliation or some such bullshit. After all, if ever you want something bad enough, nothing and nobody got in your way. _

Sometimes, Lucien could swear that his inner conscience sounded an awful lot like Stephen…

Lucien went to bed that night with a smile on his face, his worries and concerns nothing when he was determined enough to prove that he was worthy to be friends with Fred and George is he bloody well felt like it.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and the OCs. Everything else is a product of J.K. Rowling's vast imagination. (I'm going to stop writing these disclaimers. I think we all get the point.)**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

"Shite!"

Lucien ran his fingers through his hair in agitation as he searched his surroundings, his expression furious. This damn castle was far too big for his liking at the moment. From the start, the day had been a disaster.

At breakfast, his stomach was upset over something, and so he couldn't keep much done. The only thing he ate was a slice of buttered toast and half a cup of coffee.

He cheered up a little after Professor Snape handed him his timetable and he saw that the core classes were all doubled with Gryffindor. That helped him reinforce his plan for keeping the Weasley twins as friends if they had the same classes all the time.

He then set out to find his first hour class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and got turned around somewhere. He asked a third-year student, according to his uniform he was a Ravenclaw, and the guy did give him directions. However, they proved false, because he was now wandering aimlessly around the fourth floor, and the DADA room was on the second.

His feet got tangled up in the hem of his robes for the fifth time that morning. He barely regained his balance, but before he could straighten up again, he collided into the wall. His right shoulder took the brunt of the collision, and although the injuries from his father's most recent beating had healed, his body still felt a little tender in some places.

Lucien regained his composure, rearranged his robes so that he would quit stepping on them, and checked his watch. He had fifteen minutes before he was officially late for his first ever class at Hogwarts, and that was unacceptable. He turned the corner at the end of the corridor, and came face-to-face with Professor Snape.

The man's black eyes drilled into Lucien's blue-gray ones, and although the man tried to keep his intimidating air of danger wrapped tightly around him, Lucien was unaffected by it.

"Look, Professor, to spare you the wasted breath, yes I know that I'm not where I'm supposed to be, and that I'll be late for class if I continue to pussyfoot around the castle like some disoriented fool. Now, would you be so kind as to show me the way to get to the DADA room? I'm getting fed up with walking about in circles." Lucien stated, completely uncaring that his tone sounded undoubtedly haughty, and couldn't care less if he dealt a blow to the professor's ego.

"Mister Colchester, you will speak to me with nothing else besides respect." Snape snapped in quiet rage.

"Yes, of course I shall. Now please, if you can't take me to the DADA room, the least you could do is give me directions." Lucien responded, disregarding Snape's implied threat.

The professor grumbled under his breath as he turned and motioned for the boy to follow him.

Lucien felt a little sorry for speaking to his superior in such a manner, but he normally felt irritable when he didn't eat enough, and with his agitation at being so easily misguided, his pride was smarting something fierce.

"In the future, ask the portraits if you find that you've gotten lost." Snape suggested in a clipped tone of voice.

"Thank you for the tip, Professor." Lucien replied, sounding less prickly now that he was getting back on track.

Professor Snape led the boy down the changing staircases, to which Lucien severely wished he could've done without, feeling like he was about to lose what meager breakfast he had managed to keep down that morning.

Soon enough, Snape left him outside the closed door of the DADA room.

"I'm sure you can find your way around now, can't you?" Snape wondered.

"Certainly. Anyway, I'd like to apologize for my previous conduct. I was upset and getting agitated with my poor sense of judgment. I was wrong to take my ire out on you, Professor." Lucien stated, bowing his head slightly before turning and grabbing the doorknob.

"Hold still, Colchester." Lucien barely had any time to respond or comply with his professor's command before he felt a swirl of magic surround him like a whirlwind. In a moment, the magic faded and Lucien glanced down at himself, and he felt elated that his uniform fit his body perfectly.

"Thank you, Professor." Lucien cried happily.

"You're welcome. Now get to class."

* * *

"Look at this, you guys. Isn't he just the most precious little thing you've ever seen?"

Lucien set his glass of pumpkin juice down that he had been nursing throughout lunch and turned his head to get a look at the fools trying to start trouble.

There were three of them, all boys, two were Slytherins, and the third was the same Ravenclaw who had led him astray earlier in the day. He did have a score to settle with that one, anyway.

"Wow, my head aches from the sheer unoriginality you're spewing just now. I am simply staggered at the amount of unintelligence it must have taken to think up such a line." Lucien's voice was laden with boredom, but his eyes were ablaze with fury.

He stood, drained the rest of his juice, and turned to face the boys boxing him in. "If you'd excuse me."

Lucien didn't get too far away from the Great Hall when he heard the sound of running footsteps behind him.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a vial of some yellow tinged liquid and poured it onto the floor as he turned the corner. He waited a moment, and the sound of three bodies dropping heavily to the ground was unmistakable.

He turned to see the three boys lying one on top of the other, and he cracked a sardonic grin, "Seriously, you people are thick. Why in Merlin's name would you choose to pick on an unnamed little guy like me without even waiting to understand what you were getting yourselves into? Picking a fight with me in the Great Hall, with all of the professors in attendance, and actually believing that you could ambush me on the way to my next class, was simply begging for me to retaliate."

Pulling out his wand, he pointed it toward the puddle of oil on the floor and scourgified the mess to erase any evidence of foul play. He holstered his wand and turned to find Professor McGonagall coming out of the Great Hall.

The older woman stared at the pile of children on the floor and at Lucien standing over them, and the boy gave her the most pitiful look he could muster.

"What happened here? Did you do this?" McGonagall demanded.

"I swear, Professor, I never touched them." He responded truthfully. "I was just heading off to charms class and these guys followed me. I think they meant to start trouble, but when I turned the corner, I heard a loud crash, and I came back to find them like this." He explained.

McGonagall gave the boy a searching look before sighing and helped the boys to their feet. They couldn't retaliate at the moment, since McGonagall was present, but he could see the promise of retribution in their eyes, and he shrugged indifference, grinning in his best devil-may-care manner. When McGonagall and the boys disappeared, Lucien turned, tucking his hands into his pockets, and fingered the empty vial still hidden there.

"Oh man, that was beautiful!"

Lucien turned and stared wide-eyed at Fred and George, who both had such pride on their faces that Lucien's agitation was slowly leaving him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He replied, only to save face before he grinned back at them, "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, we saw what was happening in the Great Hall and thought you might need a little help, but then we saw that calculating look on your face, and we simply sat back and watched the show. I have to say, that was perfect!" George explained.

"Oh yeah, definitely. What was that you used to make the floor slippery?" Fred wondered.

"Bacon grease." He replied.

The twins stared at Lucien for a moment, and then burst out laughing, "You randomly have vials of bacon grease in your pocket?"

"Nope, just got lucky today." He responded. "That aside, I wanted to know something. No hard feeling, right?"

"Hard feelings? Why would we have any?" Fred wondered, and his response put to rest the last vestiges of his worry that their separate Houses would drive a wedge between them.

"Never mind, then." He said.

George, however, seemed to know what Lucien had meant, and he threw an arm over Lucien's shoulders, "You're our puppy, Luke. No getting out of that." He reassured.

"Thanks man." Lucien replied, giving George a nudge in the arm with his fist. "Puppy? What the hell do you mean by that?"

The twins laughed, and disregarded the demand.

* * *

Lucien turned onto his side in his sleep, reaching up to scratch a spot on his cheek before settling back into slumber. He wasn't a particularly deep sleeper, and so when he heard the slight pitter-patter of feet attempting to be stealthy, he flung himself out of his bed, wand in hand. Before he could say or do anything, a pair of arms wrapped around him, one around his shoulders, the other over his mouth.

The unknown assailant lifted the boy off of his feet and hauled him out of the dorm room to be sure they didn't disturb Lucien's roommates while they took care of the boy.

Lucien struggled, and the one restraining him had difficulty keeping a good grip.

"Stop or I'll hex you into next week." A second voice snapped, and Lucien followed the sound to its source, and he rolled his eyes in disgust before he jerked his head back and bit down hard on the hand that was in front of his mouth. The one holding him dropped him, crying out in pain as he tried to wrench his hand away from Lucien's jaws.

Lucien slammed his elbow into the solar plexus of the guy who had been restraining him. He spun and petrified one and then the other boy with blinking an eye.

"You'll have to do much better than that if you want to get me to obey you." Lucien spat, and then he turned and noticed that the portrait in the common room was watching him intently.

"Would you mind getting Professor Snape for me?" He asked.

The portrait nodded and left his picture. Lucien crouched beside the two Slytherins, sighing in exasperation. One had a rope on him; the other had a beater's bat. They were going to use him as a piñata, it would seem.

The portrait door to the dormitory opened and Snape came billowing inside, looking thoroughly rumpled from being awakened at such an ungodly hour.

"What happened here?" He demanded.

"These two ambushed me in my room and dragged me down here. They were planning on using these on me." He gestured to the bat and the rope still in the two boys' hands. "I get the feeling that these guys take exception to my peculiar shortness. They tried to do something to me earlier, but they had an unusual bout of clumsiness before they could do anything." Lucien explained.

Snape looked Lucien over before his eyes flickered over the petrified bodies of the two older students, and then he sighed, raking his hand through his hair, "I will deal with these two. You go back to bed, Colchester. It would seem you've had a rather eventful first day."

"Well, at the very least, Hogwarts won't be boring." Lucien muttered in reply as he climbed the stairs.

* * *

"What?!" Faytn's cry rebounded off of the walls of the corridor as Lucien, Faytn, and the twins were on their way to Transfiguration.

"As I said, a couple of kids tried to start trouble with me. It's nothing to get yourself so worked up over." Lucien replied heatedly.

Faytn sighed, rubbing her temples as though she had the beginnings of a headache, "Luke, why do you get yourself into these situations?" She demanded.

"I didn't ask for it. You weren't there during lunch, but those guys started it. It's not my fault they don't like the fact that I'm short." He grumbled, not at all liking being nagged by his childhood friend. Sure, she meant well, but she did have the uncanny ability to make Lucien feel like the majority of the time he had been asking for the trouble he found himself in.

"But you're okay, right? Neither of them actually hurt you, did they?" Fred asked sounding a little concerned.

"No, they just jumped me while I was asleep and dragged me to the common room. Neither one had a chance to do anything after that." Lucien replied.

"Well that's good."

"But it does make you wonder if there really is anything underneath their animosity towards you." George murmured, "The incident during lunch is one thing, but to actually plot to physically harm you, now that I don't buy."

"I swear. I really didn't do anything." Lucien hurried to respond.

"I never said that you did." George soothed, "What I meant was that maybe we should try to get to the underlying reason these guys have been harassing you as they have."

"Hmm, and how do you suppose we do that?" Lucien wondered, intrigued.

George gave Lucien a mischievous grin and winked, "You just follow my lead."

"All right." Lucien paused and then, sounding disgruntled, he asked, "Did you seriously just wink at me?"

The twins and Faytn laughed while Lucien pouted.


End file.
